


Solitude

by Silver_Sterling



Series: Stingue Week 2016 [4]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Guardian Angels, Gen, It's not a crossover it's just slightly inspired by dq9 so I thought I'd tag it, M/M, not sure how many people have even played that game but it's good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 05:29:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8565814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Sterling/pseuds/Silver_Sterling
Summary: How long had it been since he went home? Too long, as the ruffled feathers of his wings were still freshly stained with coal that humans used when they visited a few hundred years ago. Even then the number of believers was dwindling. People liked to trust themselves and their own judgement, only accepting what they were taught as right or that they discovered with their own eyes.Guardian angel au where Sting approaches Rogue for help. Only the most desperate of humans can find him.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thedragonofdeath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedragonofdeath/gifts).



It was calming to sit with his back pressed up against the faceless statue made in his image and look out across the lake. Crumbling fingers of outstretched palms landed on his shoulder, the only comfort and company he needed in this solitude.

How long had it been since he went home? Too long, as the ruffled feathers of his wings were still freshly stained with coal that humans used when they visited a few hundred years ago. Even then the number of believers was dwindling. People liked to trust themselves and their own judgement, only accepting what they were taught as right or that they discovered with their own eyes.

And who was Rogue to judge that? He too only trusted in himself. The orders from up above long forgotten and inferior to the sense of duty he felt for this place. After all it was not like he’d been completely forgotten by up above or down below as a fair few still believed in him and his legacy, leaving him in this solitude while he thought of better ways to spend his unlimited time.

Being the long-term spiritual guardian of a major city was surprisingly boring. By now the underworld knew all about him and how he never left this meditative state unless there was trouble; choosing to fight fire with fire, shadow with shadow, darkness with darkness. If they left him alone he wouldn’t go after them, leaving them to neighbouring towns and villages where the others should be doing their jobs. His people were safe and that’s all that mattered.

Even after all these years, he still received messages and warnings from command and today was the first time he was truly shaken in a hundred years at least. A fallen one was coming.

Or rather they were just in the area, scavenging and sucking away life as they transversed between spiritual and mortal planes. Nothing too worrying had been spotted so far but that was suspicious in itself. They were always up to something; scheming, stealing and seeking revenge against the heavens that abandoned them.

Now Rogue wasn’t particularly interested in this but the fact that the fallen one was heading into his territory meant one of two things: they were too new here to know of his reputation or they wanted to face him head on. Or maybe it was neither and Rogue was used to overanalysing after years alone.

As much as he hated to think of such a young spirit being abandoned by the heavens, the idea of an experienced evil coming towards him wasn’t pleasant either. Fighting was fun, yes, but having no time to prepare for one of the biggest threats to the spiritual world wasn’t. The only other option he could think of was if the fallen one had remained isolated from both worlds after their initial rejection and had not heard of him. Alone wandering in solitude like himself on the opposite side of the spectrum. There was not much time to ponder this before movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Ripples formed in the centre of the lake, spreading out with rumbling currents as a blackened hand clawed its way to the surface. Palms flat against the water it pushed and tensed, slowly revealing wrists and forearms, the left one slumped forward to the elbow pulling the rest of its body up and out until it stopped and fell through the surface, back down to the murky depths below.

“Excuse me, could you give me a hand?” A voice broke through his panic, clear and sharp. 

Suppressing a jump, Rogue turned just a fraction too slowly for a jolt and met anxious forget-me-not eyes staring into his. The man gave him an embarrassed smile while ruffling his hand through a mess of spiky blond hair.

Traces of the fallen one that was almost certainly dragging its way out of the depths of hell through his lake moments before disappeared, long forgotten in the midst of the man’s radiant aura. While his body was in the human world, his spirit seemed to be shifting uneasily between realms which explained how he was able to see Rogue. Only the most troubled and desperate humans could reach him this way so the awkward cheeriness was out of place. He could already tell this man was a hell of a liar.

“What do you need?” Rogue asked, wondering how this human was not even the slightest bit surprised at the ragged wings protruding from his back.

“I’m pretty new here and would ya believe it I got completely lost,” he laughed. “I don’t have any money or anything else really. Would you mind showing me around a bit?”

That was it? Getting lost in a park two minutes away from the city where hundreds of other humans could help show his way around? How was it possible to be in enough desperation over that to see him? Something wasn’t right about this but Rogue had nothing to do and it’d been a while since he felt someone’s eyes on rather than through him. A walk would help to untangle the mess the fallen one had already created in his mind anyway.

“Where do you want to go?”

Keep formal, instincts told him. Humans liked their guardians to be authority figures but years of experience taught him that the booming voice of the heavens they used to respect would now spook them more than anything. Seriously humans were exhausting. Writing their own book of rules meant to be from the Gods then being surprised when guardians weren’t like the stories they made up, typical.

“Just the sights around the city maybe? Dunno if we’d find anywhere prettier than this lake though.” Rogue offered him a bemused smile over his shoulder before leading the way forward. “I’m Sting by the way.”

“…Rogue.” This offering of personal information was more guarded. Although the letters were weathered away on the stone behind him, his name was still legible at the foot of the angel statue. This human, Sting, seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Rogue was blatantly not mortal and now was not the time to startle him. Being stressed enough to either hallucinate or not notice the large black wings was also possible, he supposed.

Rogue stayed one step ahead as they wove between parked cars and passers-by, going over a plan of attack for when the fallen one breached his barriers again in his head. That lake had been the easiest place for the barriers between worlds to break a few centuries ago, and down below it still looked as inviting as an open back door to a thief, however he had spent years gradually purifying the water within and with additional added barriers that lake was now the holiest place in the city. It was oddly gratifying to hear a human complement its beauty after all this time especially when its integrity had just been questioned with the appearance of the fallen one’s hand.

Turning back to the human, he saw a look of pure wonder on his face as he gazed around and took in the cityscape. Now they were amongst other humans, Rogue noticed the clothes Sting wore were wildly different to the modern fashions. A tattered white shirt where the sleeves had been ripped clean off with a darker waistcoat over the top. On one side a suspender hung down from where the hem of his trousers rested on slender hips then tucked into lace up boots. His naked arms were slim but muscular and ended in dark leather gloves up to his wrists.

“Are you not cold?” It was the middle of December after all and bare arms were unheard of in the winter outdoors if Rogue remembered correctly. Sting looked at him in surprise as he was broken out of his reverie and then glanced down at his attire.

“Oh, uh, I have lost my jacket…and my necktie and my...” He brushed a hand through his hair again. “My hat. Yes I lost my… No one’s wearing a hat, are they…” He trailed off, seemingly flustered after returning from his wondrous daze.

“Are you alright?” With a slight nod of his head, Sting returned to staring around at the scenery.

“I’ve never seen buildings so tall. Isn’t it dangerous? Don’t people fall?” That caught Rogue off-guard.

“Sometimes people do fall yes, although we try to stop them if we realise.” He paused. “It’s a terrible thing.”

“Choosing to fall… I can’t imagine it.” Sting said slowly, looking up to find Rogue with glassy eyes.

“My mentor chose to fall. Except he was unable to, so I had to push him.” Sting’s eyes darkened as they fell to the ground. “I usually try not to think about these things.”

Humming in agreement, Sting stepped closer to the angel which prompted him to move forward once more. They trawled around the city for a while longer in silence, Sting’s level of childish amusement not returning even as he took in the new sights. Gradually the sky darkened from a deep plum to a dark midnight blue, clouds swirled across the empty navy canvas to aid light pollution in obscuring the stars. 

“It’s late but no inn will take you if you have no way of payment. What will you do?” Sting fiddled with a loose button on his shirt, looking reluctant to leave Rogue but also refusing to meet his eyes. “If you have nowhere to go you can come with me. However I cannot offer any real shelter.”

Slowly he nodded, moving ever closer to Rogue so their shoulders pressed up against one another as they trudged forward. Sting swayed slightly as he walked, his gaze never moving from the ground as he lightly kicked at stray pebbles on the path. His emotions had been fluctuating madly ever since they had reached the inner city, wonder and amazement turned into confusion then something akin to dread and panic all contained in his hunched body. Now he was clearly overwhelmed and reverting back to a childish mind-set to try and cope.

Why was he so shaken up over their trip? It wasn’t a social anxiety from what Rogue could tell, he had specifically asked to be taken to places that would be filled with other people. What had affected him most was not the people but their clothes, their houses, the everyday things that everyone took for granted. Had they been so greatly different to what he was expecting or used to or…what? What circumstances would cause someone to react like this?

As they reached the lake Sting began to nervously fiddle with his gloves, drawing Rogue’s attention to his slender wrists and singed skin underneath leather. Reaching out he tried to take his arm to examine the wound but Sting jerked away, pupils shrunk down to thin panicked slits as the glove was caught on Rogue’s pale fingers and pulled off.

Grimacing, he gritted his teeth as the same charred maroon claw from the lake was revealed at the end of his arm. The human world immediately rejected the demonic parts of his body and started forcing them back into the lower realms. It was as if his body had glitched, a silent scream caught in his throat as his hands were separated slightly from the rest of his body that remained in the human world. Moving cautiously, he stepped away from Rogue and held his trembling arms in front of his chest, claws shortly following as he winced in pain. Rogue had already subconsciously released tendrils of shadow to snake around his body and ruffle the raven feathers of his wings which were now fully spread and menacing on his back.

“Fallen.” He growled, darkness now fully enveloping his body as he prepared to attack. “Why did you come here?”

Surprisingly Sting flinched away, wrapping his arms tighter around himself so that his claws began to dig into his own flesh.

“I-I’m sorry. I really am, okay? I didn’t mean to come here. The-they mess with your memories when you fall. I didn’t know who I was for a long time, I’m not sure how many years have passed since but I avoided beings from both realms as much as I could. I’ve been alone for so long but then I saw you. Your wings, your lake, y-your story…” He sniffed loudly as tremors rocked his body and thick, glassy tears began to fall. “Talking to you…They said I killed my own mentor, destroyed him to show my own strength. But that’s not true! I would never do…I would never…” His throat constricted again as he tried to force the words out. “He was like a father to me! Why would I do that? Why? I don’t want to hurt anybody. Believe me! My magic’s still holy. I don’t understand what’s happening to me…I-I thought y-… I wanted you to help…”

“Me?” Rogue asked taken aback but still on guard, shadows moving to swirl around his limbs instead of his whole body now. “What made you think I would have any idea about this?”

“You don’t know your own reputation in the underworld? Angel of darkness? Y-your power?” Seeing Rogue’s blank expression Sting sighed as his shoulders slumped. “I thought you know a dark angel might be able to help a light demon but I guess I was wrong. Do whatever you want with me I guess, it’s not like I care about living like this anyway.”

Rogue’s mind whirred as he tried to place the demon’s new aura but as more and more of his body slipped into lower planes it was getting too difficult. This defeatist attitude and devaluing of his own life was all too familiar and Rogue had vowed never to harm a non-threatening presence again. He didn’t seem that bad but could a demon truly be trusted? With their similar pasts and unfitting magic it was almost as if they were made for each other, two halves of a whole.

It was too soon yet too late. What could he do to convince Sting to stay while also protecting himself? Why was he getting so attached to someone he’d only known for a few hours? A demon no less? 

For how long had he been living in empty solitude? Too long, as the ruffled feathers of his wings were still freshly stained with coal that humans used when they visited a few hundred years ago. Even then the number of believers was dwindling but he had gained one anew with high expectations. People liked to trust themselves and their own judgement, only accepting what they were taught as right or that they discovered with their own eyes and celestials were no different. However for once Rogue trusted in his gut rather than his overactive mind, reaching out to end solitude for the both of them.

“Stay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Bonus: They work together with Sting making connections in the underworld and acting as a spy and slowly make enough allies on the other side to expand their territory and now guard a huge area of the world together. Rogue still hasn't gone back home so no one knows he's getting help from demons but at this point he wouldn't care about being kicked out of the heavens anyway. Spiritual power couple yes. Ally demons are members of Sabertooth (even Yukino) and other guardians are the dragons slayers I guess if we're going down the dragons being mentors route. 
> 
> Basically me (@buy-bye-bi) and @taylor-fairy on tumblr were talking about Sting and Rogue being an angel and a devil but both being a bit shit at their jobs so this happened. Honestly so proud of myself that I used foreshadowing consciously. I'm not sure how much sense this made or if I was just rambling for most of it so I hope it was legible. I enjoyed writing this anyway :)


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